In the past, if you wanted to trade stocks and shares you had to be a member of Wall Street and have plenty of money in your pocket to be successful. These days, it's a lot easier, faster and cheaper to start trading online and become extremely successful!

The important part to remember is that just because everybody with a computer and internet connection can now trade online, doesn't mean that it's no longer a potentially great source of income as long as you remain safe and careful.

How does it all work?

It starts by finding an online broker to do the transactions for you. There's so many available that all offer different services and serve various parts of the market. It's best to look into which broker would work best for you depending on how often you plan to trade, and how much money you plan to spend. You don't need to work with only one broker, but having everything in one place does make it easier to keep track of where all your money is.

That's the hardest part of starting to trade stocks and shares! Once you've decided on your broker and transferred money into your trading account, you're good to go. After having a good look around, it's time to decide on what it is you'd like to buy. You place the order, either a market order or a limit order. (Market orders buy at the current market price, whereas the limit order only buys once the market reaches the price you specify).

Selling works in quite the same way, but different people choose to process their investments differently. It's quite natural to keep hold of a specific stock for a long period of time while waiting for the price to improve significantly. On the other side of the coin, many people will hold onto a stock for only a few minutes before re-selling. The important part to keep in mind is that you need to buy at a lower price to which you sell to ensure you make a profit.

It can sometimes be beneficial to sell a stock/share before the price plummets too low. It's impossible to be sure if it will ever rise again. Don't get attached to specific shares that you buy as it can cause more harm than good to your wallet. This is the reason lots of people decide to start online trading, there's always opportunity to earn lots of money from your home desk if the research is done in advance.

Once you've earned as much or as little as you want, you simply need to transfer the money out into your bank account and close your broker account. Or leave the money there until you're ready to try again in the future.

What to keep in mind

It's very easy to get addicted to online trading. Keep a budget and stick to it.

Never spend more than you can afford to lose.

Spend the time to research the shares and stocks you plan to purchase.

Buy into markets that you have an interest or passion for.

Look into the history and details of your broker to ensure they're reputable.